Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... only if you seek a slightly superior alternative to Jerry Goldsmith's Inchon, with a predictably prideful military march and effective secondary theme of contemplation highlighting a conservative score. Avoid it... if you expect any of the elements in MacArthur to match the appeal of Goldsmith's more famous work for Patton. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
MacArthur: (Jerry Goldsmith) This 1977 attempt by Universal to recapture the dramatic success of wartime documentary-style pictures from earlier in the decade was one of a few high profile looks at the endeavors of American general Douglas MacArthur. Unfortunately, MacArthur failed to garner the respect of its model, Patton, despite a carefully restrained and highly acclaimed performance of the title character by Gregory Peck. Audiences were treated to a much more introverted and contemplative investigation of MacArthur's activities from 1942 to 1951 than they perhaps expected, with very little energy to sustain action enthusiasts. In comparison to its peers, MacArthur is indeed a dull narrative, though the intent of director Joseph Sargent was to expose the lesser known elements guiding the General's decisions rather than the tangible results of those commands. By all accounts, the historical figure was fairly represented in the film, exploring both MacArthur's egotistical side and the U.S. government's careful watch over him. The film failed to gain much traction in the theatres, though it performed better than the disastrous 1981 MacArthur propaganda film Inchon. Both were provided with occasionally rousing scores by composer Jerry Goldsmith, a veteran of the war genre who was known for his keen sense of balance between respect and bravado in his music for such productions. He had perfectly captured the essence of this merging in his Oscar-nominated work for Patton in 1970, still a popular score many decades later. Scores for World War II films were frequent in the previous decade of his career, and many of these were popular despite extending out of stereotypical military marches for assignments like Tora! Tora! Tora!. It's no surprise that both the productions of MacArthur and Inchon sought Goldsmith's services because of a typecast that he had created for himself, and while he fulfilled his basic duties for these relatively late war entries in his career, none of these efforts could compete with his earlier music. For many listeners, MacArthur will sound like a faint echo of Patton, its march not as infectiously entertaining and its contemplation not as poignant. Some, in fact, will consider MacArthur as dull as the picture, an understandable opinion despite being somewhat unfair. Goldsmith's march for General MacArthur is relatively well known because it was often paired with Patton in a "General's Suite" for his concerts. The march is propulsive in its percussion and appropriately heroic in its brass layers, though its tone is perky in a purely John Philip Sousa style of pomp. This bubbly tone is a bit deceptive, because the bravado conveyed in this identity runs counter to the style of the rest of the score, though as a tool to represent the General's public persona (and reputation), it is accurate enough. Closer to the heart of the score is the secondary theme of contemplation that accompanies the character in his lengthy scenes of introversion. Heard first on plaintiff strings in the latter half of "MacArthur March (Main Title)," this theme is expanded to the full running time of "The Treaty," translating the impact of the man's decisions into a hearty and weightier sense of duty. From the warm solo woodwind performances to the grim brass alternatives later in the same cue, Goldsmith applies this theme with greater dexterity than the title march. The march is indeed revisited in the score, including a performance with all the bells and whistles at the conclusion of "A Last Gift." An important instrumental motif in MacArthur is the striking of three bass notes on piano keys with a hammer (manually performed), a grating sound that effectively conveys the bitterness of wartime consequences. Heard immediately at the outset of the march, this motif is dominant at the start of "I Shall Return" and, in its application to scenes of solemn gravity, foreshadows similar techniques on the piano utilized in Star Trek: First Contact. A slight oriental tone in the progressions of "New Era" is a distinct reminder of Tora! Tora! Tora!, though without the ethnic instrumentation. Otherwise, the remainder of MacArthur is strictly conservative in its approach to meandering, gloomy variations on the contemplative secondary theme and a few singular ideas. One overarching weakness of the score is its inability to tell a story in and of itself, its parts a bit disjointed in their overall presentation. The score has only been released once on album, a rare entry of Varèse Sarabande's flurry of 1990 CD releases of Goldsmith's scores. Out of print and having sold for $100, the score is not worth the pursuit at that price, an adequate but ultimately mundane effort in this genre for the composer. *** Track Listings:
Total Time: 33:33
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